Good Morning all...it's that time again..game 10...1st place at stake..Sox still own a comfortable 8-1 advantage HTH....this series will hopefully shape up to be everything we thought it could be despite the rough first month for the Sox...Beckett and Sabathia are again the stable forces at the top of the rotations...it's no stretch to say Garcia and Colon have done better than most expected, keeping the rotation stable around struggles by Hughes and Burnett..the Sox have rebounded from a start probably noone envisioned, done with great hitting and high level play despite losing Matsuzaka Buchholz and for a time Lester from the rotation, sandwiched around struggles by Lackey, early offensive funks have plagued both teams at times this season, both teams now have guys hitting well with Ellsbury, Gonzalez and Granderson having truly stand out seasons to this point...with the top spot on the line this should be a fun series(despite having to endure those dummies on FOX and ESPN)....Yanks/Sox..still the best thing going...Everyone have a great w/e and enjoy the games....

Mornin' Jete! Oh yes, its that time again. Springtime easy-breezy meetings are a distant memory. Dog days of August. Tied for first. Two monster offenses. How it should be. Gonna be some late nights huh? Enjoy. And don't forget to flip on the radio for the audio Jete (even Kay and Waldman are a vast improvement over the FOX idiots).

Good Morning all...it's that time again..game 10...1st place at stake..Sox still own a comfortable 8-1 advantage HTH....this series will hopefully shape up to be everything we thought it could be despite the rough first month for the Sox...Beckett and Sabathia are again the stable forces at he top of the rotations...it's no stretch to say Garcia and Colon have done better than most expected, keeping the rotation stable around struggles by Hughes and Burnett..the Sox have rebounded from a start probably noone envisioned, done with great hitting and high level play despite losing Matsuzaka Buchholz and for a time Lester from the rotation, sandwiched around struggles by Lackey, early offensive funks have plagued both teams at times this season, both teams now have guys hitting well with Ellsbury, Gonzalez and Granderson having truly stand out seasons to this point...with the top spot on the line this should be a fun series(despite having to endure those dummies on FOX and ESPN)....Yanks/Sox..still the best thing going...Everyone have a great w/e and enjoy the games....Posted by jete02fan

I have to admit, he Yankees seem to be playing better than the Sox right now. The Sox have stumbled over some very average teams recently and the Yankees have taken advantage. As we all know, anything can happen when we play each other so I'm not going to even bother with looking at the pitching match ups.

This could be one of those series where the best pitchers also get rocked and whoever has the best effort from their respective pen will prevail.

Hey Jete ... I fell good about Friday and Sunday, not so much about Saturday. I'd be perfectly content with two out of three. But man, you guys have been pounding the ball lately!Posted by LloydDobler

LD, i'm a bit in the opposite direction, i feel better about Sat and Sun, only because until recently the Yanks just could never seem to win the first game of a series, and they have lost all three first games to you guys so far...but recent play has me feeling better about their chances, these games always pack the unexpected, and it seems like no matter which team races out to a lead, the game is never out of reach....

Should be fun and at times I'm sure a stressful weekend for both fan bases. The two big dogs in the AL once again squaring off head to head mano Y mano...

This is a big series for both sides of the rivarly, a litmus if you will and there's more than the tempory hold on 1st place on the line...If the Sox take 2 of 3 they'd win the season series (10 wins) and give the Sox a leg up for the division tie breakers...Not that it's and end all be all, but winning the season series is a big deal to the players, coaches and fan bases.

My daughter loves these games - she gets a quarter for every swear I say - though, ironically enough...most of my really.....colorful?...words are actually directed at the FOX Announcers.....Posted by Yoshimi25

Top of the mornin to ya Jete, Should be fun and at times I'm sure a stressful weekend for both fan bases. The two big dogs in the AL once again squaring off head to head mano Y mano... This is a big series for both sides of the rivarly, alitmus if you will and there's more than the tempory hold on 1st place on the line...If the Sox take 2 of 3 they'd win the season series (10 wins) and give the Sox a leg up for the division tie breakers...Not that it's and end all be all, but winning the season series is a big deal to the players, coaches andfan bases. Let's play ball!Posted by Beantowne

Morning Beans, maybe so, but ya gotta admit, that's a heck of a card to be holding....especially if the rest of the way goes nip and tuck..

My daughter loves these games - she gets a quarter for every swear I say - though, ironically enough...most of my really.....colorful?...words are actually directed at the FOX Announcers.....Posted by Yoshimi25

Hi Yosh, i say right before 1st pitch, just toss her a roll of quarters and be done..

CC has an era of 5.70 at Fenway from 2008 through 2010. Fenway for a lefty is no walk in the park. It's time to put the heat to Lackey. It's time to push him to see if he in can help in the post season.Posted by DirtyWaterLover

Yeah man. But putting a positive spin on it: Given that lackey has evened things out pretty good of late, he can go a long way towards making folks round here forget his Slack first half if he beats CC saturday night.

Mornin' Jete! Oh yes, its that time again. Springtime easy-breezy meetings are a distant memory. Dog days of August. Tied for first. Two monster offenses. How it should be. Gonna be some late nights huh? Enjoy. And don't forget to flip on the radio for the audio Jete (even Kay and Waldman are a vast improvement over the FOX idiots).Posted by SpacemanEephus

hey Space, i sometimes flip on the radio, even though i have to endure Sterling's stupid HR calls and Suzyn's dull stories, the game does seem to move fast, i also occasionally get to hear some interesting behind the scenes stuff during the 5th inning when Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News is in the booth..

In Response to Re: Yanks/Sox IV : Yeah man. But putting a positive spin on it: Given that lackey has evened things out pretty good of late, he can go a long way towards making folks round here forget his Slack first half if he beats CC saturday night.

Posted by SpacemanEephus

C'mon now space, he got shelled in his last start and the four wins before that were against balt, kc, tb and seattle. None of them are going to be confused for the '27 Yankees. And in 2 of those wins he gave up 4 runs in less than six innings.

In Response to Re: Yanks/Sox IV : C'mon now space, he got shelled in his last start and the four wins before that were against balt, kc, tb and seattle. None of them are going to be confused for the '27 Yankees. And in 2 of those wins he gave up 4 runs in less than six innings.Posted by (TheBabe)

Haha. You have correctly diagnosed me as a blind optimist. But, in that spirit, let me offer you another perspective: All you say is true, BUT THATS STILL MUCH BETTER THAN HE 'PITCHED' IN THE FIRST HALF.

Position by position, we don't match up all that well defensively. We have the edge on offense, but with Papi and Youk both struggling lately, we need guys like Crawford and Scutaro to be hot this weekend.We should have the edge pitching wise, except Saturday of course, and they have the edge closing it out.The key for us is to get a lead and hold it. I'd like to see some agressive base-running and good old-fashioned fundamental baseball!

Position by position, we don't match up all that well defensively. We have the edge on offense, but with Papi and Youk both struggling lately, we need guys like Crawford and Scutaro to be hot this weekend. We should have the edge pitching wise, except Saturday of course, and they have the edge closing it out. The key for us is to get a lead and hold it. I'd like to see some agressive base-running and good old-fashioned fundamental baseball!Posted by Alibiike

How did you arrive at the conclusion we don't match up all that well defensively? The Sox last I checked were near or at the top of the team defense ranking? From where I sit if you go position by position I don't see either team as having a depreciable edge with the leather...I'd say were pretty close to even

C Yanks (I'm not talkin CS%)...1B even (both are gold glove quality)2b even (See above)SS even (niether teams SS are all that with the leather)3B even (Youk v Arod, with Chavez a edge to the Yanks, but Youk's certainly not a liability at 3rd...LF Yanks Gardner should have won a Gold Glove, but Crawford's no slouch!CF even (neither are gold glovers, both posses the speed to cover a lot of ground and run down balls in the gaps)Rf Sox...Reddick is a much better RF than Swisher and there's no comparison bewtween Swisher and Drew...where the edge is much greater in the Sox favor...

Offensively IMHO the Yanks achillies could be thier reliance on the long ball to generate runs and pitching I'd take our top two over thiers and our bottom 3 are closer than one might think depending on how you line them up...Mo & Robertson might be the best duo in the game but Papelbon and Bard aren't exactly Calvin Schraldi and Bob Stanley either...

While it would be nice to take the series, and in the bigger picture, win the division rather than the WC, this series is not as critical (to either team) as the media likes to make it out to be. Regardless of what happens, both teams are likely to be in the postseason, and that's when the series becomes critical.

"How did you arrive at the conclusion we don't match up all that well defensively? The Sox last I checked were near or at the top of the team defense ranking? From where I sit if you go position by position I don't see either team as having a depreciable edge with the leather...I'd say were pretty close to even"

Good post Bean.

While I don't necessarily agree with all of your position by position comparisons, I do agree that overall, our defense matches up pretty well with the Yankees defense. In fact, last I checked, the Red Sox ranked first defensively in the AL.

In Response to Re: Yanks/Sox IV : How did you arrive at the conclusion we don't match up all that well defensively? The Sox last I checked were near or at the top of the team defense ranking? From where I sit if you go position by position I don't see either team as having a depreciable edge with the leather...I'd say were pretty close to even C Yanks (I'm not talkin CS%)... 1B even (both are gold glove quality) 2b even (See above) SS even (niether teams SS are all that with the leather) 3B even (Youk v Arod, with Chavez a edge to the Yanks, but Youk's certainly not a liability at 3rd... LF Yanks Gardner should have won a Gold Glove, but Crawford's no slouch! CF even (neither are gold glovers, both posses the speed to cover a lot of ground and run down balls in the gaps) Rf Sox...Reddick is a much better RF than Swisher and there's no comparison bewtween Swisher and Drew...where the edge is much greater in the Sox favor... Offensively IMHO the Yanks achillies could be thier reliance on the long ball to generate runs and pitching I'd take our top two over thiers and our bottom 3 are closer than one might think depending on how you line them up...Mo & Robertson might be the best duo in the game but Papelbon and Bard aren't exactly Calvin Schraldi and Bob Stanley either...Posted by Beantowne

I have to disagree. Their left side of the infield is better than ours. Gardner is better than Crawford in LF. CF is even as is 1B. I would give the edge to Pedey at 2B. Reddick is better with the leather in RF, but his inexperience makes it more even.C is a no-brainer.I still think we have the offensive edge.

Hi Jete! This weekend will be fun, although nerve wracking! While it would be nice to take the series, and in the bigger picture, win the division rather than the WC, this series is not as critical (to either team) as the media likes to make it out to be. Regardless of what happens, both teams are likely to be in the postseason, and that's when the series becomes critical.Posted by RedSoxKimmi

Hi Kimmi, right now i'm just looking for good consistent play from the Yanks, though i'd be pleased to win 2 out of 3...there's still a ways to go before division and such will be decided...